Young Nigerians expressing themselves anonymously online

Narrating or sharing a personal experience on Twitter or Instagram can be therapeutic. But the feedback might be judgmental and negative.

We have seen it happen on Twitter before. Someone shares a personal story or makes a confession only to be attacked by the social media mob. Public confessions on social media can be tricky so a lot of people have bottled a lot of things inside or they used to.

Twitter accounts like subdeliveryman and My Hoe Story emerged two years ago. These accounts have helped young Nigerians express themselves. Think of them as confessional booths in the digital square space.

All you have to do is slide in the DM of any of these accounts and say what's on your mind. For the now rested Subdelivery account, you could sub anyone under the condition of anonymity. This concept caught on quickly and Subdelivery became a mainstay of Twitter NG. Its notoriety eventually led to its downfall.

For accounts such as My Hoe Story, people could write about their sexual escapades without being judged or ridiculed. It's not only a sexual affair as young people can ask for advice or raise funds for a worthy cause. The secret confessional aspect of Twitter has helped add another dimension to social media.

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The train has moved to Instagram with the revival of Agony Aunt columns. The likes of Joro Olumofin are leading this movement. In the digital reincarnation of this classic print feature, people mail their love doctor their relationship problem. The love doctor shares their problem on Instagram without revealing their names. Unlike Agony Aunties of yesteryears, the Instagram love guru doesn't offer any solution. Instead, people comment on the stories.

Hey, people just want to share what they are going through and are not necessarily searching for expert opinion or solutions. Expert opinions are for the shrinks. Maybe young people of today just want to hear what their contemporaries think about their situation without knowing it's them.

From Twitter to Instagram, the private confessional has moved to the app game. A Nigerian startup Whitespaces has created an app with the catchy name Banta.

Still, in the beta phase, the purpose of this app is for you to rant or make a confession anonymously. It is straight up easy to use. Just download it and start typing. It doesn't ask for bio details.

There are many categories for you to write on from 'catch your sub', Sex, Relationship, School Life, Family, My Story, Love and Abuse. It's just like Twitter and Facebook in one app.

So if you are scared of airing out your business in public do it anonymously on social media or an app.